The VANG is very lucky that a number of years ago someone had the foresight to pack away and save all of the paper State Headquarters documents from the 1920s to the early 1960s.
Something a little different in this update as we dig into the history of the Virginia Protective Force and the Virginia Reserve Militia (precursors to today’s VDF).
With the nationwide mobilization of the National Guard units in February 1941, the need for a replacement military force was obvious in many states and so they began, as they had done in WWI, to start creating a “Home Guard.” As should be expected, each state came up with a different idea on uniform for its force. Very quickly, the National Guard Bureau sent out a letter chastising the states for, in some cases, using regular Army uniforms. With many State Guard liaison officers in the DC area, it was impossible to tell who was a regular Army officer, a National Guard Officer or a recently created State Guard officer. It therefore quickly became important to develop distinctive Uniforms.
Here is the design for a gray uniform (later dark brown; almost like pinks and greens) from a Virginia officer:
